From 1 April until 9 May 2021, Greater Shepparton community members had the opportunity to provide their thoughts on how rate revenue can be distributed in the fairest and most equitable way across properties within the municipality, and how fees and charges can be determined.
“Council provide services across the Greater Shepparton municipality which incur costs,” Mayor, Cr Kim O’Keeffe said.
“Using differential rating structure, Council are able to distribute the rate burden fairly across different groups of taxpayers to help fund these services.”
For each class of property, the required rates revenue is distributed by utilising a differential rating structure and Capital Improved Value (CIV) as the valuation base.
General land level of rate is 100 per cent. General land is not defined as farm, commercial/industrial or derelict and that has a dwelling that is primarily used for residential purposes. Farm land level of rate is 90 per cent of the general rate, Commercial and Industrial land level of rate is 205 per cent of the general rate.
Derelict property, a new rating differential, will have 360 per cent of the general rate. Derelict property is any property that is in such a state of disrepair that prohibits it from being occupied on a daily basis for living or working in, for a continuous 12 month period. The differential rate is designed to encourage responsible management of land and buildings through development and/or maintenance so as not to pose a risk to public safety or adversely affect public amenity. As the differential requires a 12 month timeframe no rating assessment would be charged this differential in 2021/2022.
The services and infrastructure that Council provides to its communities and businesses are essential to development, growth, sustainability and future of our region, and rates provide a significant source of funding to enable continued growth within the municipality. Rates, however, do not provide all the funding needs so where users of a service can be identified, user fees and charges will be utilised to help cover the costs of that service. User fees and charges are used for such services as:
- Aquamoves memberships and casual
- Early Childhood Education
- Kidstown
- Parking
- Saleyards
- Performing Arts
- Waste Management fees at Cosgrove Landfill
- Aged and Health Care services
- Leases and facility hire
Council also actively pursues external grant funds for prioritised works and projects and seeks to grow its own-sources of revenue outside of rates to reduce the reliance on rates revenue.
For more information about the Plan and the community engagement process, please visit the project page on Shaping Greater Shepp.
